


A love no one can rival

by RukiaG



Series: Tht reality in which Shiro and Adam are friendly exes [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (Voltron) Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Break Up, M/M, Season 7 Spoilers, it's a break up fic after all, season 7 is a mess and I'm gonna fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:26:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RukiaG/pseuds/RukiaG
Summary: After Team Voltron comes back to Earth, Shiro and Adam have the chance to give their relationship a proper closure.





	A love no one can rival

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t even like Adam at first and I knew he and Shiro weren’t going to go back together, but the way he was treated was beyond unfair. I was looking forward to their reunion, but since that didn’t happen, here’s how I imagine it would go in a different reality. Btw, please take into account that I headcanon Shiro as bi/pan/ace. (Also I’m kind of nervous because it’s the first time I write a m/m fic, I hope I’ve done it right).

Adam took a deep breath.

“Takashi?”

Shiro turned to him, a look in his eyes Adam couldn’t quite define: a bit nervous, maybe anxious, mixed with surprise and uneasiness. It was to be expected, they had been avoiding each other since Takashi came back.

“Adam…”

“Can we talk?” He noticed Keith was behind Shiro, glaring at him. Since Adam broke up with Takashi, Keith had been quite hostile towards him, and Adam wasn’t surprised the boy still held in more resentment than Takashi. “Alone?”

Shiro nodded and followed him to an empty classroom. Adam closed the door behind them, heart beating loudly in his chest. He had rehearsed this conversation so many times in his head, and now his mind had gone blank.

“I’m glad that you’re okay.” He said, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“I’m glad you’re okay too.” Takashi answered. “Iverson told me what happened when the Galra first attacked.”

Adam closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered of that battle was that he barely avoided a direct hit of a laser beam, then nothing until he woke up six months later in a hospital bed. He had been the only survivor, and the thought that so many teammates, so many friends had died while he was still alive out of sheer luck still haunted him. Sometimes he lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling and wishing he had fallen with them.

As if he knew what Adam was thinking, Takashi put the only hand he had left on Adam’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“I’m sorry. If we had come back sooner, then maybe…”

Adam shook his head. An irrational, resentful part of him wanted to yell at him, ask him why they didn’t come back as soon as they had Voltron so Earth wouldn’t be unprotected, but he couldn’t. Sam Holt had told him that they were fighting the Galra in space so Earth wouldn’t be attacked, and Adam understood that, he really did, but…

But a selfish part of him wanted to see Takashi again.

Not even a week had passed since Shiro left for Kerberos, when Adam felt the ruthless claws of remorse tearing his heart up. He had made a terrible mistake, he thought. He should have been more patient, more understanding. He missed Takashi so much… Surely he felt the same. They had gone through so much together, Adam wasn’t going to give up just for one disagreement (actually, there had been too many disagreements, too many arguments to count, but at that moment all Adam could think of were the good times they spent together).

When Takashi comes back, Adam thought, they’ll both apologize and spend the rest of their lives (of _Takashi’s_ life) together. Shiro had already far exceeded everyone’s expectations, surely after that mission he’ll settled down ( _he won’t_ , an annoying voice at the back of his head whispered. _He’ll never stop pushing himself harder, he’ll always try to outdo himself._ Adam crushed that voice with hopeful love and blind optimism.)

And then, they lost contact with the Kerberos mission, all three men were declared dead and the Garrison blamed Shiro for it.

“He shouldn’t have gone.” Adam heard people whisper in the halls. “He was sick, he put his teammates’ lives at risk.”

 _He was always putting his own life at risk._ Adam thought, but said nothing. Their last conversation echoed in his head: _This is your life at risk._ This was exactly what he had feared when he tried to talk Takashi out of going to Kerberos. Adam knew there was a chance Takashi wouldn’t survive the mission, and he had wanted to avoid the heartache he knew he’d feel when Shiro wouldn’t come back. It was to not avail, though. He still loved Takashi, the news of his death still hurt. So he said nothing, and focused himself on his work. He didn’t have any right to leap on Takashi’s defence when Adam himself had doubted him too.

Though he wasn’t surprised when Keith got expelled for getting into a fight, again.

And then Sam Holt came back, with a story so crazy it had to be true. Aliens! Actual aliens and an evil intergalactic empire and a bunch of unlikely heroes defending the universe with a huge mecha robot. It sounded like the plot of those tacky science fiction shows from the twenty and twenty-first centuries that he used to watch with Takashi.

But now Adam knew Shiro was alive, somewhere out there, and he was going to come back. That thought revived a spark of hope in Adam’s heart he had thought dead. Takashi was coming home, they’ll mend their relationship…

…Or maybe not. They had broken up, after all. What if Takashi thought Adam had found someone else? What if _Shiro_ found someone else? Some handsome alien man or a cute alien girl. He suddenly remembered when they watched _Guardians of the Galaxy_ and how Takashi used to stare at Gamora. Oh, how mercilessly Adam had teased him for having a crush on a character from a movie a hundred years old…

It wasn’t so funny anymore.

And now here he was, finally alone with Takashi, after so many years, and all the doubts and hopes and fears he’d had hit Adam with so much force, he could barely speak. Takashi looked so different now, skin so pale, the grey hair and the scar a sharp contrast to the face in his memories, and the jarring absence of his right arm…

Adam wondered if that man was the same he had known and loved.

It took him a moment to remember what they were talking about.

“It doesn’t matter.” Adam said. “You guys are here now. We can fight back. We’ll free our planet.”

Takashi nodded, a smile curving his lips. Adam had missed that smile so much…

“Yes. We had freed planets from Galra rule before, we can do it again. And once Earth becomes part of the Coalition, we’ll put an end to the Galra empire once and for all.”

Adam’s heart skipped a beat.

“The Coalition?”

Shiro nodded again, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

“The Voltron Coalition. We’ve formed it to free the universe from the Galra. We’ve gone so far, but even with Zarkon and Lotor gone there are several warlords we must defeat before the universe is at peace. I’m sure with the help of Earth’s forces… Adam? Is something wrong?”

Adam had been staring at Shiro, eyes widening as a terrible realization hit him.

“Takashi, are you thinking of going back to space?”

Shiro blinked, apparently surprised at his question.

“Well, yes. We have to put an end to this war.”

“I know, but it doesn’t have to be you!” Takashi was still staring at him in confusion. Adam ran a hand through his hair. “Commander Holt told me everything. That you were captured and forced to fight as a gladiator. That they cut your arm. You have suffered more than anyone in this war. Don’t you think it’s time to step back? You don’t have to carry the weight of the universe alone anymore!”

Shiro clenched his jaw, a stubborn frown between his brows that Adam had seem too many times.

“Adam, I understand your concern, but I can’t just stay here while there are people out there suffering and fighting and dying. I want to make sure no one goes through the same I did.”

Without thinking, Adam stepped forward and grabbed Takashi’s shoulders.

“But you could die! I already lost you once. Do you have any idea how I felt, believing you had died out there, without a chance to properly say goodbye? I can’t go through that again!”

Shiro cupped his cheek, hand warm and comforting against Adam’s skin.

“Then come with me.” Adam’s eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. “We can fight together, explore the universe together! Adam, we saw so many things out there! We’ve gone farthest than any human has ever gone. The planets, the people, the cultures we’ve met, all so different than our own! I’ve never dreamt I could see so much of the universe, and now we have the chance to explore it together!”

As he saw Takashi speak, eyes alight with an enthusiasm he hadn’t see in years, Adam felt the last remains of his hopes crumble away. He had refused to see the truth, and now it hit him, breaking his heart in a million pieces.

Takashi would never love him as much as he loved space.

How do you compete with the longing for adventure, the yearning to go where no other human had been before? You can’t. Adam had seen enough war at that point to know when he couldn’t win a battle.

His arms fell to his sides, and something in Adam’s eyes made Shiro stop his rant.

“Takashi, I can’t. I have a live here on Earth. I love my job, I love helping young cadets reach their dreams. You can’t ask me to give everything up to go with you.”

Shiro looked at him, eyes wide with confusion and hurt. It made Adam realize a major flaw in their relationship both had refused to acknowledge: Adam would never understand Takashi’s eagerness to explore the universe, and Shiro would never understand Adam’s desire for a mundane, stable life.

Shiro closed his eyes for a second before speaking again.

“Adam, this is everything I’ve ever wanted…”

“I know. I won’t ask you to give up your dream, but please understand that I have different goals in life.”

Takashi nodded, eyes closing again as he digested what that meant.

“Then, I guess it’s over.”

“It is.” And Adam realized both had harboured hopes of mending their relationship, while at the same time knowing, deep down in their hearts, that it wouldn’t work. And that hurt more than anything else.

Adam gave Shiro’s arm a light squeeze.

“Please, be safe out there.”

“Thank you.” He swallowed hard and looked Adam in the eye. “I hope you find someone that makes you happy. You deserve it.”

He left without waiting for an answer. Adam stayed in the empty classroom a few more minutes, trying to get used to the idea of being a bachelor again.


End file.
